Battery plate feeder



June 27, 1933. c. D. CARLETON Er' L 1,915,402

BATTERY PLATE FEEDER Filed Jan. 29, 1932 4 shee' s sheet 1 //vv/v7-0e5-'u 0442:550 aeumlv 40 4650 B MAL/2.90 Z4012, 7% $7M Arm/vs Y5 June 27,1933. c. D. CARLETON El AL 1,915,402

BATTERY PLATE FEEDER Filed Jan. 29, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 June 27,1933. c CARLETON r A1 1,915,402

BATTERY PLATE FEEDER Filed Jan. 29, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Avuewra=CZAPAES 0 aafm/v 4452508 Wamea ATTQPNEYS Patented June 27, 1933 t UNITEDSTATES CHARLES D. CABLE-TON, OI ('fl'aIlVlILAND, AND ALFRED B. WILLARD,OF EAST CLEVE- PATE T OFFICE LAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOBB '10 WILLARD STORAGEBATTERY COMPANY, OF CLEVE- LAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF WESTYIRGINIAnarrnar rnarn annnnit Application filed January as, 1838. Serial He.reacts.

This invention relates to improvements in battery plate feeders, beingdesigned primarily although not exclusively for use in connection withplate or grid carriers for conveying the same through drying ovens.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of means fortransferring double plates or grids from a magazine onto a conveyor inevenly spaced relation."

Another object 's the provision of a mechanism of this character whichshall lessen the manual labor required in the handling of grids.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as we proceed with thedescription of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposesof the present application, we have illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a fragment ofa id conveyor with our new feeder a plied t ereto.

Fig. 2 1s a fragmental vertical section taken substantially on the line2- -2 of'Fig. 5.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detailview of a portion of the feeder, the viewbeing taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fi 1.

Fig. 4 is an end view looking substantially in the direction of arrow 4in Fig. 1, and showing a portion of the carrier in transverse section.

Fig. 5 is a plan view, and

Fig. 6 is a detail elevational view illustrating a means for pushing thegrids the chain notches.

In'the drawings we have indicated at 10 for a grid carrier a fragment ofthe frame comprising a air of endless conveyor elements 11 whic ,in thiscase, are chains. At the end of the carrier shown herein'these chainsrun over sprocket wheels 12, which are mounted about the same axis toturn together. To this end they mag be secured in properly spacedrelation to a suitable bearings in the frame of the carrier.

Tothe inner sides of the okes of the sprocket wheels 12 we attach locks14, to which are welded or otherwise secured flat. rings or wheels 15,spaced from the chains 11 just far enough to clear the same, and

aft 13, having.

projecting radially outward beyond the sprockets and beyond the chainswhere they run upon the sprockem. The peripheries of these rings orwheels 15 are formed with projections 16, similar in shape to the proections- .on a ratchet wheel. The pro ections face forward with respectto the direction of rotation of the wheels, and are spaced apart adistance about equal to the height of a grid lug. The upper runs of thechains 11 in this instance are intended to travel throu h a drying oven,

but obviousl the feeder o the present invention con (1 be employed inconnection with grid carriers or conveyors havin dif- A ferent specificuses, and in fact the eeder may beemployed for articles other thanbattery rids where such articles are provided with ateral projectionswhich can be caused to ride upon the projections of the'wheels 15 andupon the conveyor chains.

The inner links of the conveyor chains are built up somewhat above theouter links to provide lands 17 that are adapted to support the lugs Lof the double grids, the latter being indicated atG in the drawings.Adjacent lands 17 are separated by notches 18 which are of a width usteat enough to enable the notches to loose? receive the lugs L on edge.They are spaced apart substantiall that same distance as the projections16, see 1g.

The sprocket wheels 12 turn in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. 1, and may be driven by any suitable means, or they may operate asidlers, driving power bein applied to the conveyor at its opposite end(not shown).

The rid magazine is positively attached to the gri carrier, beingmounted upon a pair of arms 19 provided with split bearings 20 which areclamped about the shaft 13 on the outer sides of the sprocket wheels 12,so that the shaft may turn freel therein. These side arms 19 areconnects together by suitporting 'bar 23 may pivotally connected 9 avingupwith the cross brace 21, and may havetherein a series of bolt holes24, through any one of which a bolt 25 mounted in the frame may becaused to extend, whereby the ma azine is supported in any one of aseries of di erent inclined positions. The arms- 19 have deing rail 30,these rails beingspaced a art the pro er distance to receive between tcm the ma or portion of the grids G, as shown clearly in Fi 4. Theslides 29 and the brackets 8 and 9 are preferably formed with tongue andgroove sliding connections 31, as indicated particularlyin Figs. 3 and4. On the forward end of each of the slides 29 there is an inwardlyprojecting stop 32 which limits the downward travel of the upper ends ofthe grids in the magazine. 'The downward travel of the lower ends of thegrids is limited by abottom stop 33, which isa plate adjustably mountedin a clamp 34 that is carried at the forward end of a fiat support 35adjustably mounted by means of fastenings 36 in the cross brace 21 Bythis means therefore the bottom stop may be advanced or retracted to alimited extent.

The slide 29 may be locked in place by means of the clamp 37, which isheld by. a shouldered pin 38 that is threaded into the bracket 9. Theslide 29 between the brackets 8 and 9 is provided with a dependingthread ed ear 39 which receives a screw 40 on the end of a pin 41v thatis rotatably mounted in bracket 9. When clamp 37 is loosened byunscrewing pin 38, pin 41 may be turned in either direction to advanceor retract slide 29 and thereby the stop 32 at the forward end.

slide block 42 which is adapted-to be clamped in position b a shoulderedpin 43 that extends throug a slot in the blockand is threaded into thebracket 8. The block carries a top stop 44 which terminates at theforward end of the magazine just behind the osition of the foremost grid(see particuarly Fig. 2) and therefore prevents more than one grid at atime from bein drawn out of the magazine. In order to ad ust this topstop accurately the block 42. is threaded to receive an-adjusti'ng screw45, the shank of "which is rotatably mounted in a bracket 46 attached bysuitable means to the adjacent arm 19. The block 42 serves not only as ameans for carrying the top stop 44, but also as a clamp for the forwardend of slide 29. Hence the clamping pin 43 must be loosened beforeeither one of the adjusting screws 41 or 45 may be turned.

- -In order to insure travel of the grids forward in the magazine eachtime a grid is removed from the forward end thereof, we probecome lodgedor stuck thereon. To this end we employ a pair of bottom or jogger rails47, which are arranged in arallelism below the grids G. These rails 4are attached to angle bars 48. At-their rear extremities the latter barsare secured to shaft 28 by means of clam s 49 or the like. The rails 47terminate s ort of the bottom-stop 33 at the forward end of themagazine, and hence do not affect the two or three foremost 'gridsl Theforward ends of the bars 48 are attached to a transverseinverted'channel member 50. This channel member is raised and lowered bymeans of adjustable connecting rods or links 51, that are pivotallyjoined to cranks 52 secured to the rock shaft 27 just within the sidearms 19. On one end of the shaft 27 there is secured" a crank arm 53, tothe outer extremity of which is pivotally connected an adjustable link54 that is mounted upon an eccentric pin 55 rotated by the driven shaftof a reducing gear mounted within a gear box 56. Power may be furnishedto the reducin gear by an electric motor 57 through a flexible coupling58, the motor 57 being mounted upon any suitable framework. It will beobvious that as the eccentric pin 55 travels in its circular ath, thelink 54 will swin the crank arm 53 ack and forth, which will in turncause the crank 52 to impart raising and lowerin motion to the channelmember 50 throu h t e link 51. The rails 47 therefore will li t thegrids off the rails 30 and lower them rails 30 sharp 'y, so that ajarring or jogging movement is lmparted to the grids, tending to keethem in close engagement and to prevent t eir stickin to the rails '30.Although the grids are was ed before being laced in the magazine, moreor less weak aci adheres to them and gets onto the various parts of themagazine, and applicants have discovered that it is impossible tomaintain a smooth slippery surface on the magazine rails. Hence, withoutthe jogging mechanism, the grids could not be moved satisfactorilythrough the magazine. The speed of movement of the jogging mechanism maybe varied more or less, and need have no timed relation with themovements of the grid carrier. However we prefer that the time intervalbetween jarring or jogging impulses shall be at least no greater thanthe time interval between the removal of two consecutive grids from themagazine.

In Fi 6 we have illustrated the means we employ for lowering the gridsfrom the lands 17 of the endless chains into the notches 18 between thelands. This consists merely of quickly, the lugs L striking the a stop60 mounted upon a cross-piece 61 of the carrier frame and adjustedverticallyto such given air of notches 18, its upper edge descends elowthelevel of sto 60, and the grid is enabled to ass below the stop. Inthis manner each of the grids is pushed into a pair of opposed notches,and'thereby the rids are evenly spaced apart and held in suc spacedrelation throughout their travel on the conveyor.

In the operation of the machine, a workman loads the magazine by placinin it a stack of grids with their lugs resting upon the rails-30, and hemust replenish the supply of grids frequently during the operation ofthe machine. The jarring mechanism causes them to move downwardly alongthe rails 30. The foremost grid of the stack is always in engagement.with the upper and lower stops 32 and 33, which are so adjusted thatthe foremost grid takes substantially the position shown in Fig. 2. Asthe wheels 15 turn in the direction of the arrow in that figure, a pairof projections 16 engage be- 6 neath the lugs of the foremost grid andlift it off the rails -past the top stops it. As soon as the gridprogresses a short distance along its upward travel upon the wheels 15,its lower'edge is released from the bottom stop 33, and the grid thenswings into vertical position. The top stop at is so adjusted that ifthere is any tendency for the second grid to stick to the foremost one,it is broken loose by the stop 44, which preventsthe lifting of morethan one grid at a time. Shortly after each grid is carried by thewheels 15 beyond the top centerpoint of the wheels,

while at the same time maintainin the perimeters of the wheels cross theline of travel of the upper runs of the chains 11, and the grids aredeposited upon the chains,

' generally upon the lands 17 thereof, as indicated in Fig. 6. They maybe permitted to remain in such position throughout their travel uponthe'chains if desired, but we prefer to brush them ofi the lands intothe notches 18 by the use of stop 60, as previously explained.

By the use of the mechanism herein disclosed it is possible to load agrid carrier much more rapidly than can be done by hand, very accuratespacing of the grids, so that t e carrier may be operated at'a reaterrate of speed and its production materially increased.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In combination, a magazine for the re- 7 ception of articles on edgeprovided with projecting lugs extending laterally, a pair of membersmounted on a horizontal axis in front of said magazine, said .membersbeing spaced apart a distance corresponding substantially to thedistance between the lugs, said members having lperipheral indentationsada ted to receive t e lugs of the articles as t e adjacent edges ofsaid members travel upwardly, whereby the articles hang vertically afterclearin the magazine, and a conveyor onto whic said members deposit thearticles as the latter descend with the downgoing side of said members.I

2. n combination, a magazine for the reception of articles on edgeprovided with projecting lugs extending laterally, a pair of membersmounted on a horizontal axis in front of said magazine, said membersbeing spaced apart a distance corresponding substantially to thedistance between the lugs, said members havin peripheral projectionsadapted tov receive the lugs of the articles as the ad'acent edges ofsaid members travel upwar ly, whereby the articles hang vertically afterclearing the magazine, and a conveyor comprising spaced members adaptedto receive the lugs of the articles permittin the same to hangvertically and onwhic said members deposit the articles as the latterdescend with the downgoing side of said members. 3. Mechanism fortransferring articles having lateral extensions from a magazine onto atravelling carrier which comprises a pair of wheels mounted on ahorizontal axis and provided with peripheral projections in ing centeredabout the vertical plane halfway between said wheels and being adaptedto receive said articles on the down travel of I the said projections.

4. In combination, a magazine for the reception of battery grids on edgewith their lugs extending laterally, a air of wheels mounted on aorizontal axis in front of said magazine, said wheels being spaced aparta distance corresponding to the distance between the lugs, said wheelshaving peripheral projections adapted to engage said lugs and lift thegrids out of said magazine as the adjacent ed es of the wheels travelupwardly, wherebyt e ids after clearing the magazine hang vertica l anda conveyor onto which said wheels deposit the grids as the latterdescend with the down-going sides of the wheels.

5. In combination, a magazine for the reception of battery grids on edgewith their lugs extending laterally, a air of wheels mounted on ahorizontal axis in front of said magazine, said wheels being spacedapart a distance corresponding to the distance between the lugs, saidwheels having peripheral said lugs and 1i projections spaced apart adistance less than the depth of a id and adapted to engage the (gridsout of said magazine as the ad'acent e ges of the wheels travel.

5 upwardly, w ereby the grids after clearing ception of battery grids onedge with their lugs extending laterally, means for moving the stackofgrids in the magazine toward its delivery end as each grid is removedtherefrom, a pair of wheels mountedon a horizontal axis in front of saidmagazine, said wheels being spaced a art a distance correspondingapproximate y to the distance between the lugs, said wheels havingperipheral projections adapted to engage said lugs and lift the gridsout of said magazine as the adjacent edges of the wheels travelupwardly, whereby the grids after clearing the magazine hang vertical,and a double chain conveyor the upper runs of which .are in a planecutting the upper down-going quadrants of said wheels, the chains lyingadjacent the wheels, whereby the grids are deposited upon said conveyoras they travel with said down-going quadrants.

7 In combination, a shaft, a pair of sprocket wheels attached thereto inspaced relation, an endless-conveyor comprising a pair of chains runningover said sprockets, a pair of wheels of a diameter greater than that ofthe sprockets mounted to turn with said sprockets and having projectionsextending outwardly from their peripheries, means for depositingarticles having lateral extensions onto said projectionsas they travelthrough the up-going upper quadrant of their cycle, whereby saidarticles are de osited upon the chains as the. wheels descen on theirdownward travel past the level of the chains.

8. In combination, a shaft, a. pair of sprocket wheels attached theretoin spaced relation, an endless conveyor comprising a pair of chainsrunning over said sprockets, a pair of wheels attached to the sprocketsand projecting radially therebeyond, and having projections extendingoutwardly from their peripheries, means for depositing battery gridsupon said wheels with the lugs of the grids resting upon the projectionsof the wheels as the latter move throu h the upgoing upper quadrant oftheir cyc e, whereby said grids are deposited upon the chainsas thewheels descendon their downward travel past the level of the chains.

9. In combination, a shaft, a pair of spaced wheels mounted thereon toturn therewith,

' having pro'ections extending outwardly from their perip cries, a gridmagazine having forwardly projecting arms provided with bearingscentered about the axis of rotation of 7 stops for the foremost saidwheels, said arms extending diagonally upward from their bearings, agrid magazine mounted upon said arms and adapted to deliver grids ontothe projections of said wheels as the latter move-upwardly past themagazine, a carrier onto which said ids are delivered as the projectionsupon w ich they are positioned travel downwardly beyondthe tops of thewheels, and means for making magazine adjustments toward and away fromsaid wheels,

10. In combination, a shaft, apairof spaced wheels mounted thereon toturn therewith, having projections extending outwardly from theirperipheries, a grid magazine having forwardly projecting arms providedwith bearmgs centered about the axis of rotation of said wheels, saidarms extending diagonally upward from their bearings, a grid magazinemounted upon said arms and adapted to deliver gridsonto the projectionsof said wheels as the latter move upwardly past the magazine, a carrieronto which said grids are delivered as the projections upon which theyare positioned travel downwardlybeyondthe tops of the wheels, and meansfor securing said arms in various positions of adjustment about a pairof spaced they are positioned travel downwardly beyond the tops of thewheels, and a vibrator adapted to jar the'grids in the magazine so asto-cause them to slide down toward the delivery end of the magazine. f 012. Amagazine for battery grids, com rismg a pair of rails set on anincline and a apted to support the lugs of the grids, a bottom stop forthe foremost grid, a pair of upper grid fixed to said rails,

mounted thereon to turn therewith,

a pair of top stops adapted to prevent the removal of more than one gridat a time u' wardly out-of the ma azine, means for a ustably mountingsai top stops, and means for adjusting said rails longitudinally.

l3, In combination, a carrier comprising a pair of parallel endlesselements moving at the same speed, lands arranged on said elements intransverse alignment leaving notches therebetween, said lands being adated to receivethe lugs of grids with the grids proper hangmgdown betweenthe said endless elements, and means for engagement with v mg at thesame s each id as it passes, whereby the movement of eac grid isinterrupted until the next pair of notches advances to receive the 'j14. In combination, an endless carrier comprising a pair of spacedendless chains moved, said chains havin oppositely arrange notchestherein se arate by lands, means for depositing the ugs of grids uponsaid lands, the grids roper hanging downwardly between the c ains, and astop positioned above the carrier for engagement with each grid as itpasses, whereby the movement of each grid is interrupted until the nextpair of notches advances to receive the grid, the depth, of engagementbetween the stop and the grid being less than the depth of the notches.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto afix our signatures.

. CHARLES D. CARLETON.

ALFRED R. I i I

